City Council To Plead For Street Repair Funds

Spokane City Council members are issuing a plea to the Washington Legislature for money to fix the city’s crumbling streets.

A resolution on tonight’s council agenda urges lawmakers to hike transportation taxes sufficiently to maintain the roads.

“This is supposed to be the transportation Legislature,” said Phil Williams, the city’s director of planning and engineering services.

Williams said legislators currently are discussing two options: a proposed state gas tax increase that sends a half-cent per gallon to cities, and a law allowing transit authorities to share reserves with local governments.

City officials say they need about $6 million more a year to maintain the streets.

Also Monday, council members will consider a $298,816 contract with Red Diamond Construction, Inc., to build a water main in the Latah Creek area.

Thirteen companies bid on the job to run a 24-inch main from 16th Avenue and Chestnut Street south to Thorpe Road and U.S. Highway 195.

Nekich Construction, the second-lowest bidder, is challenging the contract with Red Diamond because the company doesn’t meet the city’s 5 percent minority employment goals, said George Miller, design engineer for the city’s Water Department.

“It is a goal,” not a requirement, Miller said, adding Red Diamond’s bid was nearly 30 percent below the engineer’s estimate.

A briefing for the council starts tonight at 3:30 p.m. in the lower-level conference room of City Hall.

, DataTimes